No title

The Falkands War
As seen by Col J. Greenhalgh DFC

1982

Wed 31 Mar:
I flew back to England with LCpl Steve Cholerton, having been away on exercise at Itzehoe in Schleswig Holstein, Germany since the 22 Mar. We routed to Netheravon as a complete Scout flight with me leading, via the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough to collect cars and equipment left behind prior to our departure on the exercise. Whilst we were away the rear party led by Capt Geff Andrews AAC had moved the Sqn equipment and families to our new home at Netheravon. On departure from the RAE, we received several messages on the radio wishing us good luck at Netheravon from the RAE Air Traffic Control (ATC). It was a very sad day for everyone, as nobody wanted to leave Farnborough.
Fri 2 Apr:
Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands; on a Friday! I flew up to Oakington in a Scout to collect Sgt Ian Roy who had flown up in an aircraft which we were returning, having borrowed it for the exercise. It was the Officers’ Mess Dinner Night at Netheravon for all Station units including 656 Squadron AAC who were being welcomed to Netheravon by the Officers of 7 Regt AAC. Maj Johnny Moss the OC was there along with Capt Tony Bourne RA (Gazelle Flight Commander) and Capt Tom Mathews REME (OC LAD). There was much “chit chat” about where the Falklands were, (somewhere off the North coast of Scotland?) and what could be done from a military point of view? At about 2200 hrs Capt Christopher Hogan RA, OC Scout Flight 658 Sqn AAC was called out of the post dinner drinking session and put on immediate notice to move to the Falklands. The Officers of 656 Sqn AAC look on in disgust - “why can’t it be us! Surely they can’t send a half rate organisation like 658 Sqn AAC.”
Sat 3 Apr:
A boring weekend living in the Officers’ Mess at Netheravon, to which the Squadron had recently moved from Farnborough RAE. Tony Bourne and Phillip Amodio were also living in the mess. The Saturday was spent shopping and drinking in Salisbury.
Sun 4 Apr:
Tony’s car was still at the RAE at Farnborough and I agreed to fly him up to collect it landing him just outside our old 656 Sqn compound. Tony was immediately seized by the MOD police so I beat a hasty retreat home via Petersfield and Warminster for a short solo navex. I spotted John Shorer’s house as I passed Liss and surprise surprise he was out in the garden and he waved to me, which was not surprising as I had telephoned him to give him some advanced warning.
Mon 5 Apr:
The RN/RM Task force sailed from Plymouth amid massive publicity. I arrived at work to be told that the OC wanted to see the Flight Commanders as soon as possible. Tony and I went down to SHQ to see him to be told that he had spent part of the weekend discussing the situation with CAAC UKLF. CAAC UKLF Brig Kit Jebbins had agreed that 658 Sqn AAC not only did not have the right G1098 equipment, but also lacked the SS11 missile fits for their Scout helicopters. 656 Sqn AAC had both the G1098 equipment, as well as the SS11 fits with the trained Air Crewman Gunners ACM(G) to fire them with. A decision was made to reverse the decision of Friday and 656 Sqn AAC were to go to the Falklands instead on light scales. That is to say only aircraft, weapons, tentage and the minimum number of FFR Landrovers. All other equipment was to be packed into boxes for loading as stowage and no load carrying vehicles or bowsers were to be taken.
6-8 Apr:
The Sqn underwent a massive reorganisation. Firstly most of the equipment was piled high in the hanger were it had been dropped by the RCT ferry vehicles during our absence in Germany. The G1098 equipment was mixed in with SQMS equipment, office furniture, REME tools and aircraft role equipment. From this rubbish tip was sifted another pile of equipment that might be suitable for a war in the South Atlantic. Zenith fuel pumps, cargo nets and butane gas cookers were just some of the items. All this was packed into MFO boxes rather than trucks. The Pay NCO, Sgt Linden RAPC, was doing a busy trade getting people signed onto ADAT and completing their wills, surely we will not need all this? I went instrument flying with Sgt Rick Walker to Farnborough and back, in order to maintain my instrument flying currency.
The Intelligence Section from UKMC(L) came to give a threat presentation on Argentina. No need to do a head count prior to the presentation as all the Sqn were present out of a deep sense of personal interest. The brief covered all aspects of the Argentine Forces, as at that point nobody knew what they had actually deployed nor what extra troops they might deploy. They certainly seemed to have a lot of very good equipment including Chinook, Puma as well as French and American tanks. The presentation was probably the first time that I realised that we were not up against a bunch of third rate troops and it was all a bit frightening. Then of course, we might not go anyway and they were bound to have a political settlement before we arrived!
Fri 9 Apr:
Johnny Moss got everyone on parade at lunch time to inform us that we would not be going after all. Our notice to move was therefore increased to 7 days. It all seemed such a waste of time.
10-16 Apr:
Never mind it was Easter and I had been planning all along to go skiing to Grindlewald in Switzerland. I did take the precaution of finding out the correct telephone number for the hotel and left it with the Chief Clerk, Cpl Betchley. The week was fine, the accommodation was good but the snow was poor and my new skis were far too long. The UK newspapers all contained lots of information on the Argentine build up but I was beginning to lose interest. On return to the hotel on Thu 15 Apr the hotel owner caught hold of me and gave me a telephone number to ring in England saying it was very very urgent. Had my Mother died? Did I forget something?
I went just outside the hotel to an international phone box and rang Netheravon. The SSM answered the phone and said that I was to go on holiday with the people I had been on holiday with at Christmas (2 PARA). “But Sergeant-Major I am already on holiday!” Could I get back as soon as possible to prepare for the departure? No problem I thought. The Thomas Cook’s representative was not available until the next morning and I was certainly not paying for a flight myself. It became obvious that on Friday morning it would be easier to catch the programmed flight back to the UK on the Saturday rather than get a special one, such was the organisation of Thomas Cook. “Don’t these people realise I am going to war!” So I had an extra day on holiday while the rest worked hard on my behalf at Netheravon.
Sat 17 Apr:
Up early and off to the airport without a delay. At Gatwick my car started with ease and I drove like the wind down the M3 to Netheravon were I had been told there would be an O Grp at 1800 hrs with the OC. The OC was not there, but Sgt Walker was and gave me a very good update. Scout flight was to go with 2 PARA as a back up to 3 Cdo Bde to give them a total of 4 battalion groups with supporting helicopters, guns and engineers. The rest of the squadron might follow on later but this was not certain at this stage.
Sun 18 Apr:
Sunday was spent ferrying Scouts into 70 Ac Wksp at Middle Wallop to have Radar Altimeters (Radalt) fitted. I flew by myself in my favourite aircraft, XT 649 (I had been flying it in Germany as well) and flew in on an unapproved approach over the A343 at 50 feet and straight onto 70 Ac Wksp dispersal. On return to Netheravon by road I went to the Officers’ Mess to start packing for my pending departure. I had been told on one brief that the weather was varied. A Falkland summer was similar to UK but a winter was more like Norway. The Falklands was about to end its summer so I packed everything. The planning figure was that we would be away for 6 months and for me that was a lot of clean clothes. Finally I decide to pack it all into a suitcase, kit bag, navigation bag, webbing and a bergen which were all full to capacity. This was mainly due to the large selection of hats I took from my flying helmet to steel helmet, 2 colours of beret; light and dark blue, a head-over and an arctic cap.
I had several conversations over the next few days with 2 PARA up in Aldershot in particular David Woods to the Adjutant who I knew well from Kenya. In fact David had jumped out of my Scout at Nanuki Kenya, during parachute training, more than any other member of 2 PARA! I had established from the very beginning a very amusing and friendly relationship with him. He didn’t know the meaning of fear, and inspired confidence in all those who worked with him. Finally there was a message that Lt Col H Jones the famous “H” was having an O Grp at Bruneval Barracks Aldershot and had directed that Greenhalgh should attend. I also new “H” extremely well as I flown him almost daily whilst we were out in Kenya. Some of the sorties were so far that I was unable to take a crewman due to the high fuel load/All up weight required. So he used to sit in the front and help with the map reading or catch up on his sleep. The role of the CO in Kenya was very demanding …………… socially. I jacked up an aircraft and an early met brief to allow me to be in Aldershot by 0900 hrs.
Mon 19 Apr:
There was no time to get a crewman so I went solo. XV 130 was the aircraft on line which was the one least likely to go to war. This was due to it being the heaviest Scout as well as being fitted with a dual instrument panel. The QHI WO2 Mick Sharp used to love to take it on Instrument Rating Tests (IRT) to terrorise the pilots as he could see the instruments as well as the pilot. The flight should have taken only 20 mins but on reaching Basingstoke there was extremely thick fog and low cloud up to 500 feet with no cloud above. As I couldn’t go below it, I elected with Farnborough Air Traffic to go on top. It quickly became apparent that there was every chance of getting to Aldershot with the assistance of radar but no chance of landing through the fog. With great regret I turned round and flew back to Netheravon. I then called David Woods and told him that I wouldn’t be coming and he said that I wouldn’t miss anything as the plans were still up in the air.
Johnny Moss asked me what fuel we were planning to take. I said I had no idea and he told me to phone UKLF Ops and ask them. When I called they said they had not heard we wanted any and I said I hadn’t either! He said that everyone was planning on 30 days fighting so I said we would plan on 30 days flying at intensive rates. Thirty days for 3 aircraft flying 6 hrs a day burning 500 lbs an hour would need 550 x 45 gallon drums of AVTUR. The man on the other end of the telephone said “no problem, it will be delivered to Southampton”. This is too easy I thought and said “don’t you want a demand form and 6 weeks notice?”.

Tue 20 Apr:
It was decided during the morning that deck landing training was now the order of the day so the QHI took myself and Sgt Kalinski down to Portland where it was promised that HMS INTREPID would oblige. As we appeared over the cliffs there she was sitting in the middle of the harbour also getting ready to depart for the South. Numerous approaches were shot to her from varying directions until the QHI was happy that I had cracked the black art. It seemed too easy, but of course HMS INTREPID was at anchor!
On return to Netheravon the afternoon was spent getting the details of our shipping for the move. First of all I was told by 2 PARA that the Scouts would travel in the hold of the Europic Ferry which had limited accommodation, while the personnel would travel on the Norland car ferry from Hull. The flight was to move by road to Aldershot and then on a special train to Hull along with 2 PARA. Johnny Moss was unhappy and so was I. Why couldn’t we travel with the aircraft, keep them on deck, maintain our flying skills and provide a useful service? We were told that the Europic Ferry, a Townsend Thoresen lorry ferry, would be docking in Southampton for final preparations at lunch time. Johnny Moss said we would go together and see it for ourselves.
Our directions to find the ship from Ops UKLF, were sparse to say the least ……… a large orange car ferry parked somewhere in Southampton Docks. We flew down in a Gazelle, the weather was fine and there was no problem locating the Europic. We considered landing on the ship and elected to land on the dock side between some cranes causing a major sand and dirt storm which did little for Army/Merchant Navy relations. Once on board we found the crew were very friendly and there appeared to be no problems putting the aircraft on deck and one of the Second Officers thought that there would be plenty of water to wash down the aircraft with on a daily basis. This had been a stumbling block put up to stop us going on deck by Aircraft Branch REME at Middle Wallop. On return to Netheravon I rang UKLF Ops and told them we could go on deck and they said that we couldn’t. Johnny Moss then rang them and they agreed! UKLF had been worried that we would not leave any room for the gunners with their 6 light guns.
Wed 21 Apr:
I agreed by telephone that the 3 Scouts would embark onto the Europic Ferry at 30 min intervals to allow time for the ground party to fold the blades and push the aircraft to one side before the arrival of the next aircraft. First me, then Kalinski and finally Walker. The arrival was a bit dusty but there seemed to be plenty of room and the FDO was there to meet us with much waving of the battens. Tony Bourne flew down to pick me up and take me back to Netheravon to collect my personal kit and say farewell to the OC. Unknown to me Johnny Moss was needed in BAOR as soon as possible to take command of 3 Regt AAC and Colin Sibun was to take command in his place. I collect my SLR from the armoury, loaded all my kit into Tony’s Gazelle, put my car into an empty married quarter’s garage and went to SHQ to say farewell to Johnny. In his office I was introduced to the new OC who I had never met before; Maj Colin Sibun who was visiting Netheravon during his Gazelle conversion. We only had time to exchange a few words and I was off with Tony down to Southampton again.
At Southampton Tony came on board the Europic and we met the other 2 officers with whom I was to share the voyage South; Capt David Gibbons RA and Capt Mike Von Berttle RAMC. We were all put into the same cabin, the Bridal Suite, which actually had 2 beds and 2 bunks and a magnificent bathroom with a bath! It also looked aft over the flight deck which meant I could keep an eye on flying. Michael Draper research consultant to the Museum of Army Flying at MW came on board to record the aircraft and photo them.
Tony departed and the activity on the key side was frantic. A fleet of RCT Fodens were busy unloading 45 gallon drums of AVTUR, SS 11 missiles, pallets of gun and mortar ammunition piled 3 deep as well as much more. The road party arrived with SSgt Ross REME who was to be my 2IC and the AMG team from Middle Wallop arrived led by Sgt Kanek REME. All our role equipment was loaded onto the car deck through the sterm. Air Tpr Beets and Air Tpr Coleman arrived with LCpl Angus in the Landrover which was at my request put on the top deck with the aircraft. Then it was time for supper and to bed early ready for a dawn departure.
Thu 22 Apr:
We sailed with fine weather at around 0700 hrs - no great send off, just a few relatives and one lonely Union Jack. I leant over the rail with Kalinski and we surveyed the scene as the quay and then Southampton slipped away. It can’t be true we are actually going. I am sure we will have a super cruise courtesy of the British Government and then they will find a solution and we can come home again.
After breakfast the flight under the direction of the Flight Desk Officer and started on the task of cleaning the top lorry deck in order to turn it into a pristine flight deck. Lots of larger items of rubbish mostly metal frames etc were thrown overboard once we were out of the channel. This was only after the said items had been inspected by Normal Banford the Chief Officer and given clearance for dumping! By now the banter had begun and the boys were saying just what they were going to do when they arrived. We sailed into Portland Harbour just before last light and drop anchor ready for Royal Navy work up on the following day. We also conducted a RAF practice with Grey Rover.
I went on one of many private strolls around the lower lorry deck to see for myself the vast amounts of stores and equipment we were carrying. The main items were Royal Engineer wheeled plant, 2 PARA’s MT vehicles, my aircraft spares and role equipment and hundreds of pallets of ammunition mostly gun and mortar but did include some grenades and small arms. There was also 2 x 20’ containers with locks on. I discovered later from the Pursor Tom ….? That one contained potatoes, milk and bread while the other contained Kestral Lager. There was a huge amount of beer and we failed miserably to drink it all before we went ashore, but we did try quite hard.
Fri 23 Apr:
Action stations, abandon ship, fire practice, damage stations and hands to flying stations. A Royal Navy Wasp showed how to do it. A special Navy team came on board to give Europic its day only, one spot helicopter clearance. I was issued with a massive pile of Royal Navy aviation publications to read, digest and then pass on to the others. Walker to MW to exchange SS11 Simulator. Run up Portland Bill.
That afternoon we all went ashore in Portland to do a spot of final shopping and to make the final phone calls home. I rang y parents and John Shorer. They were cheerful but then they too didn’t believe it could happen. My father was very philosophical about the whole thing, while my mother declined to speak to me fore more than a few seconds as she was probably on the verge of tears. It was rather difficult and very sad. On reflection it was probably better that it was me going, as at least I knew when everything was all right, which was a great deal more than they would know. I would only communicate with my parents once more by letter before the end of the war.
Sat 24 Apr:
Immediately after dawn the ship sailed out of Portland, but not unnoticed as the other RN ships all hooted in turn to bid the Europic farewell and bon voyage on her journey South. The plan was to sail in company with Atlantic Conveyor and Norland to Ascension Island. Conveyor was ready and we soon met up with her but Norland with 2 PARA had problems. Originally in Hull for refit she was moved at short notice to Southampton to avoid being involved in a union dispute. 2 PARA who had been going to Hull now loaded at Southampton and set sail 2 days after us. The mood on the ship changed, as the reality of the situation hit everyone having said their final farewells. For some it was still a welcomed break from work, families and the UK weather, with a lot of fun thrown in, for others it was the start of something more frightening.
An enterprising aircraft electrician carried out a series of illegal modifications to the Arcade game - “Packman” which was situated in the main bar. This allowed free games for all and became the centre of all evening activities. A packman league led by Sgt Dick Kalinski and Mike Von Bertle was soon established. This was to end when the packman machine was badly damaged in a storm when it slid rather too heavily into the bar wall during the night.
I spoke with the Senior Naval Officer (SNO) Lt Cdr Charles Roe about doing some flying at sea with a moving ship, before the weather started to deteriorate. He was very much against it and didn’t see the need for any such exercise. He had no experience of aviation let alone Army Aviation, who as far as he was concerned were not supposed to fly at sea at all.
Sun 25 Apr:
By now we were in the Bay of Biscay, and I had a series of rather difficult conversations with the SNO. Having spoken to the ship’s Captain, Chris Clarke, in advance I knew he was on my side or at any rate had no objections. The SNO had to concede and allow us to fly. In accordance with the Naval publications I had been reading, I arranged a flying brief for all concerned from the Captain and SNO to the DFO and Chief Engineer to the pilots and ground crew and to the firefighters and radio ops. IT seemed as if all of the ship were there. It followed a formal pattern with a met brief, crews to aircraft and the flying programme and aim. Then the ship piped “hands to flying stations, hands to flying stations, no unauthorised movement aft onto the flight deck, no ditching of gash, hands to flying stations.” I flew for 36 mins doing ship approaches and landings; everyone enjoyed it and were surprised how easy it was and this included the SNO, who I went to interview personally after landing.
Mon 26 Apr:
Wishing to continue with the training I asked for another period of flying. I was told quite curtly by the SNO that there would be no flying in case we wore out the Scots. I didn’t waste my time explaining what the role of the REME was! Under pressure from me the SNO agreed to allow us to fly on Tuesday.
Tue 27 Apr:
The weather was beginning to get much warmer and the ship took on a more holiday atmosphere. The pre-flying brief went well coordinating the expressions which were to be used to attempt a ship controlled radar pick up and recovery with Clive Arnold the ship’s radio officer. The planned training was to include high hovers, max rate climbs to 8,000 feet and radar circuits. Unfortunately, the ships radar would only pick up 10,000 ton ships and not a small Scout and so ships circuits were abandoned permanently. We tried a novel form of dead reckoning at sea with a moving base to work from. Using the Dalton hand computer we devised what we thought was a fool proof method of departing over the horizon and then returning on a different heading to accurately intercept the ship. It was really a failure even though it did get you roughly back into the parish, it could not take account of the ship altering course, which the Europic seemed to do regularly. In fact it was lucky that the weather was so good with unrestricted visibility, because if you lost the ship all you had to do was to climb until you could see her.
Wed 28 Apr:
The SNO continued to restrict our flying with the excuse that we would run out of fuel before we reached Ascension Island never mind the Falkland Islands. I was very pleased that I had secured the AVTUR with Johnny Moss, as without it we would have been grounded during the voyage South.
Thu 29 Apr:
“Hands to flying Stations.” The SNO had no more excuses and I wanted to try VERTREP at sea (Vertical Replenishment or underslung loads). The session aimed to launch in turn all 3 Scouts, something we had not done until then. It would need better coordination on the heli-spot. Once all the Scouts were in the air they approached in turn to pick up a full barrel of AVTUR in a net and then flew away with it. We flew a cross deck pattern to avoid having to hover during the approach and take off. It was great fun with the gunners taking it in turn to “play” at load masters hanging out of the back door of the Scout. Once it was over the SNO Charles ? decided it would be good to pay a liaison visit to the Atlantic Conveyor to coordinate our voyage south. The only way was by air, so I set up a SOATAX (Senior Officer Air Taxi) for the SNO who was thereafter, ever grateful. I flew the sortie as I had not landed away before and lunch on a different ship was irresistible. I had lunch with Capt North and afterwards had a conducted tour of the ship’s hold which was like Aladdin’s cave. Cluster bombs for Harrier, tentage for 10,000, loo rolls for 6 months, G1098 by the ton and lots more. I also met the MARTSU team leader who agreed to do some protective work on our aircraft for us.
Fri 30 Apr:
“Hands to flying Stations.” The aim was to take some of the 2 PARA personnel on sea/air experience flights. All 3 Scouts flew and I ended up on the Atlantic Conveyor to pick up some kit after the other 2 had landed on Europic. The weather deteriorated quickly whilst I was closed down on the Atlantic Conveyor. On take off the Conveyor gave me a heading to steer for the Europic as she was not visible through the murk. Having flown for 4 mins I lost sight of the Conveyor and I still couldn’t see the Europic. I turned back towards the Conveyor and asked her to check the heading. She issued an apology and then gave a new heading, low on fuel I set off again, lost the Conveyor and still couldn’t see the Europic. I was getting alarmed when I spotted the Europic about 40% to the right at about 3 miles. I made a speedy dash towards her, landed on and thanked my lucky stars. Why I didn’t go back onto the Conveyor for fuel and wait for the weather to clear, or ask the 2 ships to close, will always baffle me………… too proud and stupid to, I expect.
Sat 1 May:
There was no flying. Eating in the Officers’ Mess. Sundowners on the new deck.
Sun 2 May:
There was no flying.
Mon 3 May:
There was no flying.
Tue 4 May:
There was no flying., Russian bear overfly fleet.
Wed 5 May:
There was no flying.
Thu 6 May:
I flew to Norland with Gammon for a 2 PARA brief which was supposed to update us all, yet there was little to learn. It was a good excuse however to chat to all the old friends from Kenya and see “H” Jones, David Woods, Mal Tonks and Chris Dent who were all in fine fettle. The corridors of the ship seemed to be heaving with people and equipment which did not compare as well with our Europic Ferry. There was an air of relaxed excitement in anticipation of the coming days. Gammon went in search of kit …….. items which we had not been able to procure for ourselves on the Europic Ferry. I went down onto the car deck and found the Quartermaster who was giving away all sorts of nice warm clothing.
Fri 7 May:
We arrived just after dawn at Ascension Island. The air was very busy with RN and RM helicopters swapping loads between the ships themselves as well as the shore in preparation for the landing. Ascension Island just looked like a very hot and rocky island in the middle of nowhere, which was just what it was! Andrew Eames called and picked me up in a Scout and took me on board the Norland for a brief with the Commando Brigade Air Squadron - CBAS Ops Officer. Here I picked up a few more gems on aviation in the Commando Brigade and it was agreed that we would be the fifth flight of the Sqn and would take on that number and call sign. The aircraft were renumbered from “A”, “C” and “F” to “DN”, “DQ” and “DV” for Greenhalgh, Kalinski and Walker respectively, at 2130Z we set sail south in company with Norland, Atlantic Conveyor and Fearless.

SILENCING THE GUNS
Delta November in action
near Port Stanley 14 Jun 82
by Roger King

On 14 Jun 1982 a Scout helicopter of 656 Squadron Army Air Corps was being flown by Capt J G Greenhalgh AAC with Cpl J F Gammon Para as his gunner. They were carrying out ammunition lifts for 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment just after dawn. Whilst they were doing these lifts 2 PARA located many enemy targets on the other side of the water of Moody Brook, about 1000 metres beyond the range of their own Milan ATGW. The Battalion 2IC (Maj Chris Keeble) called Capt Greenhalgh on the radio and asked the crew to carry out a HELARM strike using SS11 missiles. As the Scout was flying with the SS11 equipment removed to reduce weight, such an order involved the refitting of the missile system. So the Scout was flown back to its flight location, landed, fitted with four SS11 missiles, and refuelled, all without stopping the rotors, and returned to 2 PARA in less than 20 minutes.

The crew then flew forward to a ridge overlooking the enemy positions. The top of the ridge was rocky and there was little cover. The Paras were “digging in” on the forward face of the ridge. The Scout located and fired one SS11 missile at an Argentinian Gun Battery which could be seen firing and then flew back to rendezvous with 2 Royal Marine Scouts which had been called in to help. After briefing the Royal Marine Scout crews Capt Greenhalgh flew back leading them to the ridge where they hovered alongside each other, 100 metres apart, and began firing at the gun battery. One SS11 blew up an ammunition dump alongside the guns and others hit the guns themselves. Soon soldiers could be seen hurrying away from the guns by a narrow track which led out through the surrounding minefield. After firing a total of eleven SS11 missiles the enemy battery was silenced and the guns abandoned. A series of Argentinian retaliatory mortar rounds fell onto the Scouts’ position. The Scouts quickly pulled back off the ridge, their task complete

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updated 4th September 2010